Ancient Egyptians are credited with inventing the celebration of birthdays.<\/li>\n

But the first mention, 5000 years old, was not for someone\u2019s \u2018birth\u2019 day but for the day of the crowning of a Pharaoh (ruler).<\/li>\n

Since the crowning of a ruler in Egypt was seen as the birth of Pharaoh as God, it was a big deal.<\/li>\n

Ancient Greeks borrowed this tradition and started baking moon-shaped cakes to pay\u00a0tribute\u00a0to the Greek\u00a0moon\u00a0goddess, Artemis.<\/li>\n

They added candles to represent moonlight.<\/li>\n

Romans took the practice a step further and are believed to have been the first civilization to celebrate the birthdays of common people.<\/li>\n

Birthday celebrations became mainstream in the 4th century when Christians began celebrating the birthday of Jesus.<\/li>\n

Till this point, Christians considered it a ritual of non-believers, because it was tied to pagan<\/a> gods.<\/li>\n

The tradition continued to evolve as people traveled, and the modern birthday celebrations are said to have come from the German celebration called Kinderfest <\/i>(18th century).<\/li>\n

On the morning of a child\u2019s birthday, he or she would receive a cake with lighted candles – one for each year they’d been alive, plus another to symbolize the hope of living for at least one more year.<\/li>\n

The family kept replacing the candles as they burned out throughout the day, as no one could eat the cake until after dinner.<\/li>\n

After dinner, the birthday boy or girl would make a secret wish and blow out all the candles.<\/li>\n

It was believed that the smoke carried their prayers & wishes to gods who lived in the skies (that smoke helped to ward off evil spirits is another belief).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nAlso Read:
\n Why is it called ‘Going Dutch’ when you pay for yourself?<\/a>
\n Why do we cross fingers for good luck?<\/a>
\n Why do we touch wood for luck?<\/a><\/p>\n
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